Reinforced fabric girdle and method of producing the same



May 19, 1964 E. BRADD 3,133,

REINFORCED FABRIC GIRDLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed Sept.13, 1961 INVENTOR. [RNEST BRADD FITTOR/VEY United States Patent Ofiice A3,133,543 Patented May 19, 1964 3,133,543 REINFORCED FABRIC GIRDLE ANDMETHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Ernest Bradd, Shawanese, Pa., assignor toWilliam Gluckin & Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of NewYork Filed Sept. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 137,761 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-580) Thisinvention relates to fabric girdles of the all-way stretch-type. Moreparticularly, the invention deals with the provision of reinforcementson predetermined areas of the girdle in providing better support of thegirdle upon the body of the wearer and in maintaining position of thegirdle on the body of the wearer in the use thereof.

Still more particularly, the invention deals in a novel method ofapplying reinforcements to the fabric girdle in a manner to simplify andeconomize on the production of girdles of this type and kind,particularly in eliminating cutting and stitching operations.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from thefollowing description, when taken together with the accompanyingdrawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosedand, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable referencecharacters in each of the views and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the upper portion only of oneside of agirdle made according to my invention, the girdle being illustrated inits flat extended nonuse position, with part of the construction brokenaway and in section. 1

FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic section on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bracketed schematic view diagrammatically illustrating theseveral stations in the method of producing reinforced girdles inaccordance with my invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken through the girdle of FIG.1 substantially on the line 4-4 and illustrating associated therewiththe die or pattern parts preparatory to depositing reinforcements on thegirdle, the reinforcements of FIG. 1 being omitted in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view on a reduced scale of the die or pattern partshown in FIG. 4 detached, with part of the construction broken away.

In illustrating one adaptation and use of my invention, I have shown inFIG. 1 at 10 the upper portion of a knitted fabric garment of all-waystretch material and, in the present illustration, the garment isillustrated in its insideout position and is viewed at one side of thegarment. It will be understood that the opposed side of the girdle, notshown, will be of similar construction.

The girdle 10 includes a waistband portion 11 which, in the invertedposition of the garment, is on the inner surface thereof, but, normally,would be arranged on the outer surface of the garment when in use. Theinner surface of the garment is identified by the reference character12; whereas, the outer surface is identified by the reference character13, note FIG. 2 of the drawing, wherein part of the fabric garment isdiagrammatically illustrated in section.

For purposes of description, the side 14 of the garment, as viewed inFIG. 1, can be regarded as the front side and the side 15 can beregarded as the rear side. Deposited or attached to each of these sides,preferably beyond the center 16 of the side, are strip-likereinforcements 17 which extend from the waistband 11 to a point wellbelow the waistband portion, as indicated by the contracted lower ends18 of the reinforcements.

The reinforcements 17 are in the form of deposited latex, asdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing, and the outerexposed surfaces of the latex reinfor cements are coated with a flockcoating, as diagrammatically illustrated at 19 in FIG. 2 and representedby the stippling in FIG. 1 of the drawing. It will, thus, be apparentthat the flock facing on the reinforcements will present a soft andinsulated contact upon the body of the wearer, bearing in mind that, inuse, the reinforcements are preferably disposed upon the inner surfaceof the garment. In some instances, however, the reinforcements can beapplied to the outer surface of the garment.

In applying or depositing the reinforcements to the garment inaccordance with the method later described, the viscosity of the latexis controlled so as to minimize penetration of the latex into thefabric, so that the latex will extend into the interstices of the braidto an extent to securely anchor and fix the reinforcements to the fabicand, yet, prevent penetration of the latex to the outer surface 13 ofthe fabric. These slight penetrations are diagrammatically illustratedat 20 in FIG. 2 of the drawmg.

The reinforcements, in themselves, are extensible with the extension ofthe all-way stretch fabric but serve to reinforce the fabric at theareas coated or covered by the reinforcements. It will, thus, beapparent that, in actual use of the girdle upon the body of the wearer,the lower portions of the reinforcements will spread further apart thanthe upper waistband portions thereof due to adapting the girdle to thecontour of the body and, further, due to the added reinforcement of thegirdle at the waistband portion 11 thereof.

Considering now FIG. 4 ofthe drawing, in carrying my invention intoeffect, the blank tubular body, from which the girdle is ultimatelyproduced, in other words before the formation of the waistband portion11, has a form 21, such as a metal plate, inserted in the tubular bodyportion to support the same in a fiat or smooth extended positionwithout any appreciable tension on the body portion. The plate 21constitutes one part of the die structure. The other part comprises adie or pattern plate 22 arranged upon one surface of the body blank, asillustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawing. A plan view of the die or patternplate 22 or one end portion thereof is illustrated in FIG. "5 and thisplate has four elongated mold apertures 23 therein of a contourcontrolling the length and shape of the reinforcements 17 to bedeposited and fixed to the girdle blank. 7

Now turning to FIG. 3 of the drawing, in this figure I haveschematically and diagrammatically illustrated at least portions of fourstations, namely the forming or depositing station 24, the first dryingstation 25, the flock applying station 26 and the final drying station27. In FIG. 3 of the drawing, the dot-dash lines 28 represent a belt orother conveyor for conveying the workpiece in the assemblage, as shownin section in FIG. 4 of the drawing, to and through the respectivestations.

First, dealing with the depositing or forming station 24, here theworkpiece, namely the assemblage as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing andidentified by the reference character 29, is passed beneath a latexdepositing medium 30 passing over the surface of the die or patternplate 22 to deposit latex in the apertures 23, the thickness of theplate 22 controlling the thickness of the lay of the latex on theworkpiece. This operation is performed in the feed of the workpiece bythe belt 28. In the schematic or diagrammatic showing of FIG. 3, inorder to simplify this showing, the plate 21 and the die or pattern 22are omitted and all that is illustrated is the girdle body 10, which isidentified by the solid line 10' in FIG. 3, and the deposit of the latexis indicated at 17.

From the station 24, the belt feeds the workpiece to the second station25 employing a suitable heating medium 31 for a short period of time,the mold or pattern 22 having been removed from the surface of the workpiece. This station partially sets the latex to form a skin surfacethereon, facilitating the application of the flock.

The belt then feeds the girdle blank with the partially set latexthereon through the third station 26, at which station the flocking isapplied by known electrostatic means, partially illustrated by theshowing at 32 at said station, after which, the belt 28 then passes thegirdle blank beneath a longer heating station represented by the heaters33 at the station 27 for final setting of the latex and fixing of theflock to the reinforcing latex strips or members 17. After passingthrough the station 27, suitable means is employed to retrieve excessflocking material; whereupon, the girdle blank is now ready forfinishing operations such, for example, as the formation of thewaistband portion 11, which operation will be performed after the girdleblank has been reversed to bring the side 13 thereof outermost and theside 12 innermost, so as to dispose the reinforcing members 17 upon theinner surface of the resulting garment. Prior to these last mentionedoperations, it will be understood that the plate 21 has been removedfrom the girdle blank.

It will be understood from the foregoing that a successive series ofgirdle blanks can be simultaneously passed through the successivestations, diagrammatically shown in FIG. 3, and while a single die orpattern plate 22 could be used on the successive blanks, in someinstances, two or more of these will be used and a number of the plates21 employed which are inserted in the blanks prior to passage into thestation 24.

In the above described operation of the girdle as shown in FIG. 1,reference is made only to application of the reinforcing members 17 toone side of the girdle. In producing the ultimate end product, eachgirdle blank will have two passes through the machine.

In different adaptations of my invention, it will be apparent that thedeposits of latex on a garment can be of any contour and location on thegarment, particularly wherein it is desirable to reinforce andstrengthen predetermined areas of the garment in providing a desirableand beneficial support when the garment is used upon the body of thewearer.

It will be understood that the flocking does not interfere with theextensibility of the latex deposit and, in some cases, a stretchablefabric can be adhered to the latex instead of the flocking.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of aknitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the characterdescribed, which consists in arranging within the tubular garment aplate supporting the fabric of the garment in a smooth flat condition,positioning an apertured pattern on an exposed smooth flat surface ofthe garment, then fillirn the aperture of the pattern with latex todeposit on said smooth surface of the garment a latex reinforcement ofpredetermined area and thickness defined by the contour of the aperturein said pattern and the thickness of said pattern, then heating thelatex deposit in setting and securely fixing the reinforcement on thegarment, and so applying and heat setting the reinforcement as todispose the reinforcement solely on and conforming the same with thecontour of the surface of the garment to which the reinforcement isapplied while 4 maintaining stretch in the reinforced area of thegarment.

2. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of aknitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the characterdescribed, which consists in arranging within the tubular garment aplate supporting the fabric of the garment in a smooth flat condition,positioning an apertured pattern on an exposed smooth fiat surface ofthe garment, then filling the aperture of the pattern with latex todeposit on said smooth surface of the garment a latex reinforcement ofpredetermined area and thickness defined by the contour of the aperturein said pattern and the thickness of said pattern, then partiallyheating the latex deposit, then applying flock to the exposed surface ofthe partially heated latex, then further heating the latex deposit insetting and securely fixing the reinforcement on the garment, and soapplying and heat setting the reinforcement as to dispose thereinforcement solely on and conforming the same with the contour of thesurface of the garment to which the reinforcement is applied whilemaintaining stretch in the reinforced area of the garment.

3. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of aknitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the characterdescribed, which consists in first reversing a garment blank to exposethe normal inner surface thereof, arranging means in the reversedgarment to support the fabric of the garment blank in a smooth fiatunstretched state, then arranging an apertured pattern of predeterminedthickness on one exposed smooth flat surface of the garment blank, thenpassing the assemblage through a series of stations to first apply adeposit of latex on the surface of the garment blank exposed to theapertured portion of said pattern to form a reinforcement of a contourdefined by the aperture of the pattern and a thickness controlled by thepattern thickness, then removing the pattern and passing thereinforcement of the blank through a heating station to partially setthe reinforcement, then passing the reinforcement through a flockingstation for applying flock to the exposed surface of the partiallyheated reinforcement, then further heating the reinforcement in finalsetting thereof and adhesion to the garment, controlling the viscosityof the latex applied to the blank so as to conform the latexreinforcement to the contour of the surface only of the fabric of theblank to which the reinforcement is applied and in a manner to maintainstretch in that area of the fabric to which the reinforcement isadhered, then reversing the reinforced blank, and finally performingfinishing operations on the blank in producing the resulting finishedgarment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,861,003 Foster May 31, 1932 2,077,514 Callahan Apr. 20, 1937 2,106,132Feinbloom Jan. 18, 1938 2,120,817 Simon June 14, 1938 2,196,492 Clark etal. Apr. 9, 1940 2,334,529 Amyot Nov. 16, 1943 2,507,726 LHollier et alMay 16, 1950 2,648,619 Alderfer Aug. 11, 1953 2,739,918 Illingworth Mar.27, 1956 2,773,703 Reynolds Dec. 18, 1956 2,896,304 Peroni July 28, 19593,012,557 Grishman Dec. 12, 1961

1. A METHOD OF REINFORCING A PREDETERMINED AREA OF ONE SURFACE OF AKNITTED TUBULAR ALL-WAY STRETCH FABRIC GIRDLE GARMENT OF THE CHARACTERDESCRIBED, WHICH CONSISTS IN ARRANGING WITHIN THE TUBULAR GARMENT APLATE SUPPORTING THE FABRIC OF THE GARMENT IN A SMOOTH FLAT CONDITION,POSITIONING AN APERTURED PATTERN ON AN EXPOSED SMOOTH FLAT SURFACE OFTHE GARMENT, THEN FILLING THE APERTURE OF THE PATTERN WITH LATEX TODEPOSIT ON SAID SMOOTH SURFACE OF THE GARMENT A LATEX REINFORCEMENT OFPREDETERMINED AREA AND THICKNESS DEFINED BY THE CONTOUR OF THE APERTUREIN SAID PATTERN AND THE THICKNESS OF SAID PATTERN, THEN HEATING THELATEX DEPOSIT IN SETTING AND SECURELY FIXING THE REINFORCEMENT ON THEGARMENT, AND SO APPLYING AND HEAT SETTING THE